Mechanics Institute Chess Room Newsletter #214

"Chess is an incredibly emotional game. If everything around you is harmonious, when you are feeling good, you are in a creative mood. If something is
disturbing you and you are in a bad mood, then it is difficult to be creative. So you have to create the right atmosphere."

1) Kramnik retains title

Vladimir Kramnik won the last game of his match with Peter Leko in Switzerland to tie the score at 7-7 and retain his title. Kramnik will now face the winner of the match between FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Garry Kasparov set for January 7th to 24th January 2005 in Dubai.

2) USCF chooses Crossville

USCF VOTE TO MOVE TO CROSSVILLE BY March 31, 2005

At a teleconference on Sunday evening Oct 17, 2004 the USCF Executive Board voted to move to Crossville, Tennessee by March 31, 2005. Here are the relevant two motions:

EB 05-14 (Brady and Schultz): Considering the AF4C Foundation has requested we delay our decision for two weeks and that AF4C has demonstrated good faith in the past by relieving USCF of the burden of our having to fund an annual US championship thus saving us a hundred plus thousand dollars annually, that when we failed to merge with AF4C we told them we still wanted to find ways to work with them, and that AF4C has stated they will know in two weeks whether they will buy the Liberty, NY building and as a result offer us free office space for five years with an option to buy at the end of that period, considering all this, we delay our relocation decision for two weeks. FAILED 3-4 In favor: Bauer, Brady and Schultz; Opposed: Marinello, Hanke. Shutt and Shaughnessy

EB 05-15 (Hanke): The USCF will move its national office to Crossville, Tennessee in accordance with the previous Executive Board vote in 2003. Negotiations with the Crossville bank and the architect will begin as soon as possible. USCF will complete its move into the free interim office space in Crossville by March 31, 2005. PASSED 4-1-2 In favor: Marinello, Hanke, Shutt and Shaughnessy; Opposed Brady; Abstain: Bauer and Schultz.

Don Schultz
USCF Secretary

During the meeting the only Board Member to visit Lindsborg, Kansas, Randy Bauer, made the argument that the Lindsborg offer was financially superior. Bauer is the budget director for the state of Iowa. All Board Members visited Crossville except Frank Brady. A couple made it to Liberty. Several Board Members wanted to give two more weeks to see if the AF4C would buy a property in Liberty, New York ( 60 miles from the current USCF headquarters), but were voted down. One diplomatic way to characterize the voting was that the majority felt that the commitment had been made to Crossville by the last Board, that new construction was preferred, and it was time to move forward.

One result of the move to Crossville, which would have also been true of Lindsborg, is that there is likely to be a big turnover of office personnel. How this will effect membership services remains to be seen. The Crossville move will be in two parts. First the organization will move into an office in Crossville and then later will move into its own building after construction of the new USCF office is completed.

This year the USCF under the direction of Executive Director Bill Goichberg looks to be $300,000 up on the plus side of the ledger, the second year in a row they have shown a profit (you have to go back almost a decade for the previous profitable year). One reason for this turnaround is that Goichberg worked for free in 2003 and for $25,000 this year. He has been the acting ED, the Executive Board waiting on a permanent decision until the city for relocation was chosen. Now that this has been decided the job will be open with a likely salary of around $100,000 judging from what previous EDs were paid. Among those said to be interested in the position are Goichberg and current USCF President Beatriz Marinello.

The $508,000 the USCF made from the sale of its building in New Windsor went to the Life Member Assets fund, but this is still not enough to cover its future obligations.

3) Nakamura dominates Western States Open

This is part one - more coverage will appear in the next Newsletter.

Hikaru Nakamura mowed down three GMs, an IM and an FM, yielding only a quick last round draw to GM Alexander Ivanov to win the Sands Regency Western States Open held October 15-17 in Reno, Nevada. The 16-year-old, 2620 FIDE rated GM, picked up $5000 for his efforts. Just a few days before he had won the NY Masters beating GM Alex Wojtkiewicz and drawing Gata Kamsky. Clearly he will be one of the favorites in the US Championship in San Diego this November.

The Mechanics' Institute members made up more than 10 percent of the 425 player field. The A team won the prize for top scoring club and the $750 will be spent on special activities at the MI.

Boris Spassky and his wife Marina were the special guests of the Sands Regency and the Western States Open. The former World Champion was very warmly received. His 26 board simul ($100 a board) sold out within two days of being advertised and had a waiting list of over a dozen players. Among the participants in the event were MI members Ian Jones, Phil Bond, Daniel and Alan Naroditsky and George Stone. The latter joined Norman Wyatt, Sharon Bennum, Jerry Weikel and Payam Parhami as the only players to draw Spassky.

The following game between GM-elect Boris Kreiman of Los Angeles and David Vigorito of Henderson, Nevada, who has three IM norms, was the most spectacular of the event even if it later proved to be unsound.

Boris Kreiman- David Vigorito C67
Reno Western States Open (4.9), 16.10.2004

1.e4 e5

A new look by Vigorito who is a well-known Najdorf aficionado.

2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1

Trading the Queen's by 6.d4 Nd6 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.dxe5 Nf5 9.Qxd8+ is not to Kreiman's taste. Interestingly in IM Larry Kaufman's The Chess Advantage in Black and White he suggests that Black answer the Ruy Lopez with the Berlin in one section of the book and in another he advocates opening 1.e4, recommending 5.Re1 against the Berlin!

5...Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bd3

Kaufmann prefers the more positional 7.Bf1. Such is not the way that Ironman Boris "Bench Press" Kreiman plays chess.

7...Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.Nc3

This position was familar to players in the early 1900s.

9...Ne8

More common are 9...c6, 9...Bf6 or 9...Re8. Kaufmann credits the text to GM Alex Sherzer.

10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Rh5?!!

Normal here is 11.Re1 with equal chances and a not very exciting game. The text is incredibly imaginative unfortunately it doesn't quite work.

11... g6 12.Qf3

There is no turning back. If 12.Rh3 has 12...c6 13.Nc3 Be5 and with ...d5 and possibly ...Bg7 Black is doing very well.

12... c6

As 12...gxh5 13.Qf5 loses instantly.Can you find White's next move?

13.b3

White wants the long diagonal.

13...cxd5 14.Bb2 Ng7?

There was only one move here, 14...Qe7, but it works: 15.Rxh7 Be5 16.Re1 d6 17.Bxg6 Qf6 and the defense triumphs. GMs Yermolinsky and Serper spotted this defense during the game but it was very easy to miss.

As usual this event was very well organized by the team of Jerry and Fran Weikel and Barbara Woodward of the Sands Regency.

4) Ukraine and China lead Chess Olympiad

Ukraine, with Vassily Ivanchuk in tremendous form, leads the Chess Olympiad after five rounds, but Russia just scored a huge 3.5-.5 victory over Israel to move near the front. The Chinese women were three points ahead of the field after five rounds and just beat Russia 2-1.

The US team, seeded tenth, lost a tough match to India (Anand board one) and another to Uzbekistan (Kasimdzhanov board one) but bounced back with a win over a good Croatian team.

The US women lost a difficult match to Russia in round 4, drew a not particularly strong Swedish team in round 5, but have now rebounded to beat Georgia 2-1 with Susan Polgar leading the way with a win over Maya Chiburdanidze.

5) DeGuzman wins Burlingame Open

Filipino IM Ricardo DeGuzman won the top section of 2004 Burlingame Open outright with a perfect 4-0 score. The other two section winners were Julian Standen in the Reserve Section ( U1800 ), also with a perfect 4-0 score and Philipp Semenenko in the Booster Section ( U1400 ) with a 3.5 - 0.5 score. The tournament drew 53 players which is slightly less than the 60 player the organizers had hoped for, but a respectable showing for a first tournament at a new site. The event was directed by the Author and Robert Blatt. The Burlingame Chess Club was the host for the site. For more information on the event, along with prize winners and amounts see http://www.burlingamechessclub.com/bccPAIR/2004tmts/burl_open2004/standings.html

October 16, November 13, December 18
Open to players age 18 and under
(Limited to first 80 players) Game/45

Rounds : 10:30am, 12:15pm, 2:00pm Late Registration: 9:30am - 10:15am Open: to the first eighty players Note: Quads based on rating. USCF Rated. Unrated players face each other. You must be a USCF member to play in the quads. Time Control: Game in 45 minutes Entry Fee: $20 / $30 day of tournament/ $15 for MI members Checks payable to Mechanics' Chess Club Prizes: Trophies for the winners of each quad.